Insists on whereabouts of 47,366,887 barrels of crude lifted

By Emman ovuakporie & Johnbosco Agbakwuru

ABUJA—THE House of Representatives Adhoc Committee investigating the $17 billion undeclared crude oil exported to global destinations, yesterday, directed Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, to provide details of all multiple accounts operated before the introduction of Treasury Single Account, TSA, by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

The committee said the document would enable it ascertain and determine the actual amount accrued from the sale of crude oil, payments into Federation Account and level of compliance with extant financial regulations.

Chairman of the committee, Abdulrazaq Namdas (APC, Adamawa), and members of the adhoc committee, had expressed concerns over the 47,366,887 barrels differential in the documents submitted to the adhoc committee by NNPC; Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR; Nigeria Customs Service, NCS; Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, and Nigerian Navy on the crude oil lifted.

In  the documents submitted to the Adhoc Committee, 13 oil companies overlifted 7,423,266 barrels of crude in 2011, while 18 companies overlifted 20,367,803 barrels of crude in 2012.

The lawmakers also queried the NNPC for failing to give details of the money paid into the Petroleum Profit Tax account on behalf of Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, as well as the Consolidated Account.

Mover of the motion on the matter, Johnson Agbonayinman, (PDP- Edo), argued that the International Oil Companies, IOCs, couldn’t be prosecuted in isolation of the government agencies, and urged the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, to ensure that government officials found culpable were brought to book.

Nine cases ongoing on undeclared crude export — Malami

Malami, in his submission, confirmed that there were nine ongoing cases filed in Abuja and Lagos against some companies, including Chevron, Total, Agip, Addax Petroleum and Brass Oil Services Limited, to ensure strategic recovering of stolen hydrocarbon and liquified gas.

He explained that  President Goodluck Jonathan, via a letter dated November 29, 2013, through the AGF’s office, approved the request by NIMASA to enter into agreement with a forensic firm, Molecular Power System Limited, to execute the retainership agreement on the recovery of the stolen crude.

He, however, noted that the Federal Government has not taken a decision on whether to institute criminal charges against the affected companies.

Malami, who urged the National Assembly to expedite action on the passage of two bills critical to the fight against corruption, namely Proceeds of Crime and Whistleblower with dispatch, stressed the need for synergy among the three arms of government.

He disclosed that the TSA and whistleblower policies had helped to block leakages within the system, adding that “those laws that add sense and meaning should be treated with dispatch so as not to allow impunity to reign in the system.”

The AGF maintained that the series of litigations and appeals filed by the IOCs were responsible for the delay in the determination of the cases.

He also urged the National Assembly to exercise its constitutional powers to compel any government official to comply with its resolutions.

Responding to the lawmakers’ queries, Chris Akamairo, NNPC’s General Manager, Finance and Crude Oil Marketing Division, and Roland Ewubare, Acting Chief Operating Officer (Upstream), who affirmed that the corporation operated multiple accounts, pledged to provide details of the accounts to the committee.

They also explained that the data submitted to the adhoc committee did not reflect the underlifted crude oil brought forward by the oil companies, but assured that the 2010 crude lifting will be submitted to the committee.

The delegation, which denied knowledge of the CBN Petroleum Profit Tax, noted that only the FIRS could ascertain the amount accrued into the account.

“No one in NNPC will have record for that (CBN PPT FIRS) account.  All we do is to take the account number where the money is paid into.

‘’We will not know it because we do not manage that account; we only help FIRS to pay the money into the account,” Ewubare said.

He further disclosed that all the monies that accrued from the sale of crude were paid into JP Morgan’s account.